Three civil rights groups filed a complaint against Harvard on Monday, claiming its preferential policy for undergraduate applicants with family ties to the school overwhelmingly benefits white students, and therefore violates a federal law banning race discrimination. The complaint, which asks the Department of Education to investigate the matter, comes just days after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down race-conscious admissions policies at the university. The groups said the high court’s decision made it even more imperative to eliminate policies that disadvantage non-white applicants, Reuters reports. In related news, UT Law Professor Ben Barton recently talked about how the Supreme Court’s decision will affect colleges in an interview with WVEC-TV Channel 13 News Now.

U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty of Louisiana directed the Biden administration on Tuesday to limit contact with social media companies, Bloomberg Law reports. The preliminary injunction affects large swaths of the government, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Doughty said the government could not talk to social media companies for “the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.” The case was brought by Louisiana and Missouri attorneys general who claimed the government was trying to silence posts that questioned COVID policies and the validity of the 2020 election.

A conservative nonprofit legal group, American First Legal, is warning law schools that give preferences to minorities and women that it will sue over those policies following last week's U.S. Supreme Court decision on affirmative action at two undergraduate schools. According to Reuters, the group sent letters to 200 U.S. law schools warning them not to give preferences in admissions, hiring or law journal selection. The group also said decisions based on factors in an applicant's biography that could serve as a proxy for race — such as socioeconomic status — also would be challenged. Read the letter.

The University of Tennessee College of Law recently announced on social media that Kristina “KK” Kersey will be joining the school’s clinic as an advocacy clinic professor. Kersey brings more than two decades of practice, teaching and training experience to the clinic. She previously worked at the Washington, D.C., based Gault Center as senior youth defense counsel, where she trained individuals defending youth in transfer proceedings throughout the country. Kersey’s dog, Biggie Smalls, also joins the clinic as the newest “furry” member.

Camden lawyer John W. Whitworth has been named chair of the Tennessee Bar Foundation. He was installed as the 42nd chair at the foundation’s annual membership meeting. Whitworth first joined the foundation board in 2017 as a West Tennessee trustee. He previously served a three-year term as a member of the Grant Review Committee. Whitworth, a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, focuses his practice on real estate, probate, estate planning and insurance defense. He also serves as judge of Benton County’s General Sessions and Juvenile Courts, and a member of the executive committee of the Tennessee Council for Juvenile and Family Court Judges. He will serve until June 2024. Read more in a release from the foundation.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti filed a motion with the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, asking the court for an emergency stay of a temporary partial injunction imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Eli Richardson in the case of L.W., et al. v. Skrmetti, et al. That case challenges the constitutionality of a new state law banning certain gender-related medical care for minors. Read more from the attorney general's office.

A former Metro Nashville Police Department employee was awarded $300,000 by a Davidson County jury this week after she alleged a “sexually hostile work environment” at the police department, the Nashville Post reports. The jury awarded Citlaly Gomez $450,000 in compensatory damages, but the court limited the award to $300,000, citing state law. The plaintiff is also eligible for attorney’s fees, according to the court. A Metro representative said the department is considering an appeal.

Six state-appointed Metro Nashville Airport Authority board members have been seated, airport officials announced Friday. The Tennessean reports they include: Tony Giarratana and Stuart McWhorter, appointed by Gov. Bill Lee; Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson and Jimmy Granbery, appointed by Lt. Gov. Randy McNally; and attorney Masami Tyson and Bobby Joslin, appointed by House Speaker Cameron Sexton. Two appointees from Nashville Mayor John Cooper have not been announced. Five other existing members will remain on the board, including attorney Joycelyn Stevenson, Andrew Byrd, Bill Freeman, Glenda Glover and Nancy Sullivan. Airport officials said they would abide by state law, despite concerns this week from the Federal Aviation Administration and an ongoing lawsuit challenging the new state law giving state elected leaders appointment powers on the commission.

The TBA will be closing at 3 p.m. CDT today and remain closed tomorrow, July 4, for Independence Day. The office will reopen Wednesday at 8 a.m. CDT. As always, our TBA.org website has plenty of continuing legal education options and other information available to you 24/7. Reach out to staff directly using contact information posted on our online staff directory.

The Death Penalty Information Center recently released a new report titled, “Doomed to Repeat: The Legacy of Race in Tennessee’s Contemporary Death Penalty.” The report highlights the connection between the state’s current use of capital punishment and its history of racial oppression, according to Stacy Rector with Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. Tennessee stopped executions last year because of problems with the lethal injection protocol.